


In The Dark

by theauthor2010



Category: Glee
Genre: Anxiety, Claustrophobia, Community: glee_angst_meme, Gen, Panic Attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-14
Updated: 2011-05-14
Packaged: 2017-10-19 09:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/199559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Quinn is claustrophobic and Rachel is brutal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Dark

"Rachel!" Quinn called as the door slammed shut and locked behind her. Her breath immediately caught in her throat but she calmed herself down and knocked on the door. Rachel was right outside and could unlock the door for her. It was alright. Nothing bad was going to happen to her. She could breathe. There was plenty of room in the closet. “Rachel, can you please let me out of here?" she asked, trying to keep her breathing steady and her tone even. Very few people even knew about her claustrophobia and she wasn't going to let Rachel Berry be one of those people.

 

"Rachel, please?!" she asked, her voice betraying her. She heard nothing though. She leaned beach against the shelf behind her, shutting her eyes tightly. She then heard something that was unmistakable. She heard footsteps. Rachel had heard her loud and clear but she walked away anyway.  Oh my god Rachel had locked her in here! Quinn wanted to kill her but first she had to escape this. Oh dear God, she was trapped. "Rachel! Please! Someone help me!"

 

Quinn closed her eyes and stopped screaming. If she screamed she was going to be unable to breathe. She breathed slowly, in and out. She just had to focus on breathing and imagine less darkness and suffocation. She had to focus on anything. Prom was coming up and she and Finn were going to be the perfect couple. She was going to be elected Prom Queen and it was going to be beautiful.

 

 _Please God_ , Quinn prayed as the silence got to be too much for her to handle. She had to get out of her mind and the hysteria this was causing. Her heart was beating too fast and all she could think of was the enclosed darkness. It was so dark.

 

Closed. Small. Dark. Nothing. Nobody.

 

No! Open spaces. Bright lights. Prom. Dancing with Finn.

 

 _Please God, let me out of here,_ Quinn prayed. _Let someone find me. I'll be a better girlfriend to Finn. I'll be nice to people. I'll be less selfish. Finn can even have the psychotic midget who did this to me, if I don't kill her first. Oh God, it's tiny in here. Why the hell would they make a closet that locks from the outside? Rachel is going to die. I am going to kill her, burn her, and gut her. She is going to pay for this. Oh my god let me out of here!_

Quinn screamed. She knew logically that screaming was useless but she was so far beyond logic at that point. Her chest started heaving and she knew that she was having a panic attack, but once again, logic became useless when someone was terrified. She closed her eyes but that didn’t stop the racing that made her sure she was going to choke and stop breathing. She did choke a few times, gagging. Oh god, she could not throw up in here. If she threw up, like she used to when she had panic attacks as a girl, she would literally die.

 

She saw light, flickering around her shut eyelids and she wondered if she was on the verge of passing out. She had never passed out before but she had most definitely never been locked in an enclosed space for this long either. She opened her eyes when the light became stronger, more obvious. She looked up and around her to see Mike and Tina standing in front of her but she ignored her friends in favor of the light. She crawled out of the closet, trying, but failing to stand up. She continued to focus on the light, just the light. It was all okay because there was light. She inhaled open air, eyes watering.

 

“What happened?” Tina asked.

 

She shook her head and slowly managed to stand up. Her knees were weak, though, and Mike immediately put a strong arm around her. She leaned into it, afraid that she was going to fall down. Next thing she knew, she was walking. Mike and Tina lead her over to the choir room and sat her down in one of the plastic chairs there. She clutched her hands together and took in a ragged breath, things calming down and slowing back to normal. Slowly, she was starting to see clearly again and became able to acknowledge the couple that had rescued her.

 

“Tina, can you run and get her some water?” Mike asked. Quinn didn’t look over but she could hear Tina heading down the hall. She opened her eyes wider and looked at Mike, crying, because she felt so pathetic. “What happened, Quinn?”

 

She breathed deeply and managed to speak, her voice raspy and heavy with tears. “I was…in the closet, getting some things together,” she whispered. “I was hurrying because I _hate_ small spaces and the d-door closed. I was freaked out, so-so freaked out and then I realized that Rachel, she locked me in there. Why would she do that to me, Mike? She locked me in the closet…”

 

Just then, Tina had returned.  Quinn forced herself to look at Tina and Tina smiled comfortingly. “Rachel did this to you?” Mike asked from her other side. “How could Rachel do such a thing? Did she know that Quinn was…”

 

Tina answered quickly. “Of course she knew,” the girl said darkly. “Mike, this is Rachel, who sent Sunshine to a crackhouse because she was afraid of vocal competition. Quinn, no offense Quinn, is sort of her biggest competitor in the world. She’s the one who has Finn.”

 

“She’s…she must have found out I was afraid somehow,” Quinn whispered. “I…I deserved this didn’t I? All the cruel things I’ve done to Rachel, I deserved this. I deserved her exploiting the one thing that could destroy me.”

 

“You don’t deserve this Quinn,” Tina said softly, reaching out and taking her hand. Quinn had barely acknowledged Tina all the time that they were in glee together, but here Tina was, comforting her gently. “Yeah, you’ve been a bitch, but Rachel used a terrible fear you have against you, to hurt you, just because you’re with the guy she wants to be with. We’ve got to stop letting her get away with this crap.”

 

“Definitely,” Mike agreed. He handed Quinn the water bottle that Tina had brought her. Quinn took it and took a long drink, tears still heavy in her eyes. God, she was such a lunatic. What kind of girl was that afraid of a dark closet? She was pathetic and a loser and she never, ever had her priorities straight. She didn’t even know anything personal about the people who saved her life. What was she doing with her life?

 

“I just hate myself,” she mumbled low, feeling like she was still trapped in that darkness. What the hell was wrong with her life? She broke down sobbing, unable to calm down, unable to get out.


End file.
